'Two Cheers For Anarchy'

Today, in order to watch a Lenny Bruce monologue on YouTube, I had to sit through a Starbucks commercial. This feels like proof that some kind of fundamental battle has been lost, right? The Internet is free, but not really.

Lenny Bruce was an iconoclast whose ideas are now packed in some big company's bubble wrap. Our show today is about anarchism, and I wanted to listen to Bruce's hilarious and scatological riff on the breakdown of Rousseau's Social Contract. A nascent society sets up areas to eat, sleep, and poop. The minute people start pooping in the sleeping area, they have to set up enforcement mechanisms. And with that simple paradigm, Lenny walks us down the primrose path to a police state. What's the alternative?

Today, we're going to talk about the theory and occasional practice of anarchism.

You can join the conversation - email colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.